Archives for July 2016

As I was researching for this blog, it became clear pretty quickly that people had strong views on this issue. They were either categorically for or against, with basically no-one sitting on the fence. What I would say is that you need to decide when your cat first moves in whether you are going to let your cat sleep with you, because trying to change the cat’s modus operandi later on down the track will be near impossible! So, let’s look at the reasons people cite for both sides of the discussion.

3 Reasons Why Your Cat Should Not Sleep With You:

Disturbed Human Sleep: Cats tend to be nocturnal and having slept for a significant amount of the daylight hours, some cats will find their get up and go in the midnight hours. A good night’s sleep for we humans is about both quantity and quality, and being woken at 1am because puss has decided that it’s the optimum time to chase her tail, isn’t going to be doing you any good at all. Pussa and Soph weigh slightly under 4kg during daylight hours, but it seems that during the middle of the night around about the time when they’ve decided to use my thighs as a substitute bed, that their weight balloons to something akin to bags of cement. As someone who, so I’ve been told, likes to thrash around during the night, this becomes impossible to do when lumps of setting concrete are lying on top of you;

Risk of Worsening Asthma and Allergies: Obviously if you are allergic to cats proximity to them is going to exacerbate the situation, and if there is anywhere in the house where you want to be able to breathe well, it’s in your bedroom. Some also say that those with asthma suffer more when cats are allowed in the bedroom. I think if you fall into either one of these groups, then perhaps you should have considered the situation more fully before you got your cat. Nevertheless, if you are already committed to the cause then either keep your cat shut out of the bedroom (degree of difficulty: very high) or get yourself an air purifier with HEPA filter;

Zoonotic Risks: These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. A widely quoted study is one published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal which cited some rather gruesome, nope let’s call it what it is, disgusting, cases of disease being transmitted from pet to human. Keep in mind though, that the probability of this happening to you is low. Particularly when you consider that in the cases of disease discussed in the study the human was really, really stupid. One bloke let his dog lick him where he had a healing wound after a hip replacement! Eeeeuuuuuuuw! That is so many thousands of wrong I can’t begin to count. Responsible pet owners keep their pets healthy by keeping up to date with vaccinations, flea, tick treatments etc, and thus minimise the risk of transference.

3 Reasons Why You Can Let Your Cat Sleep With You:

It’s Easier That Way: When Mr Pet Parent and I agreed to adopt Pussa, he was none too keen for her to be sharing the bed. However, a couple of things caused us to capitulate. I couldn’t sleep in the bedroom with the door shut because I felt like I was suffocating from the reduced the airflow through the room. Second of all, Pussa wasn’t having a bar of it. She would sit on the other side of the door and scratch, and scratch and scratch until we let her in. Cat: 1, Humans: 0.

It’s Rather Comforting: Who doesn’t feel relaxed when there is a purring cat in close range? We all know that you can’t make a cat do anything they don’t want to do, so how loved do you feel when puss decides that on top of you is the only place in the world they want to be at that moment?

You Have Your Very Own Furry Alarm Clock: I’m convinced that Pussa can tell time. Feeding is Mr Pet Parent’s job at Cat Habitat HQ, and Pussa is keen as mustard every morning to let him know that it’s 6am and time to get up and dish out breakfast. How much nicer is it being woken up by a hundred or so puss cat head-butts than an electronic alarm shrilling in your ear?

As you’ve probably figured out we let Pussa and Soph sleep ON the bed, but I don’t let them under the covers. Not for any particular reason – I just don’t like it. We have a few Feline Futons which lie around the place, including on the bed, for daytime cat naps. They contain the fur to one area, can be put anywhere, and are easily washable. Especially during winter, do make sure wherever your favourite feline sleeps that they are warm and cosy, and kept out of drafts. It can be hard to find cat beds that don’t look they’ve been made with the leftover fabric from a 1980’s legwarmer factory. If you’re looking for cats beds that fit in with the rest of your home furnishings, take a look at our Cat Cots,Cat Cosy’s and Slumber Yards too. We also personalise the Slumber Yards with your favourite feline’s name. Nice touch huh?!

So, whether you let your cat sleep with you or not is a decision based on what you feel comfortable with. Don’t however let them sleep with babies or young children so as to avoid any chance of suffocation. There’s only one thing left to do…..teach the cat how to turn the light off.

Goodness knows how many words have been written about stress in humans, and there’s no doubt that stress, and its best friend anxiety, afflict many of us. Cats, and pets generally, can be a calming influence on their stressed out humans, but they can also suffer from stress themselves. As a cat owner you have taken on the responsibility to look after the well-being of those cats under your charge, and that includes puss cat’s mental health.

What Causes Stress in Cats?

Just as with humans, sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint a specific cause or causes of stress in your cat, but there are a few common ones:

Moving House: Cats are big fans of familiarity and regularity in their environment and routine. A change in that environment can disrupt the equilibrium your cat seeks so that they know all’s right with the world. I was told the story of someone who sold their house, then repurchased another house further up in the same street (let’s not go into why you would do that…just accept it for the purposes of this story). Their cat however refused to move to the new house, and ended up moving in with the family who had bought The Cat’s house. I wonder if the new owners appreciated the bargain they got compared to the buyers of this house in Melbourne who stumped up an extra $140,000 for the cat to be included in the sale!

An Addition to the Household: This can be either of the human or animal variety. It’s certainly no surprise that introducing another cat to the home can be like shifting the earth off its axis for the existing cat. Likewise the incoming cat is not only dealing with being the intruder, trying to figure out the pecking order, but the new physical environment as well. Having a new human come to live in the house, be it a baby or a new housemate, can be similarly unsettling for puss as there will be new and different smells, sounds and routines in the home.

Travel: Whether it’s traveling down the road to the vet, or moving overseas like we did, travel can be one of the most stress inducing situations for you cat. Travel for your cat is going to go hand in hand with being put in the cage, and the cage confines your cat. This confinement stresses them because they can’t exercise their flight response to a threat.

Where’s My Human Gone?: If you take a holiday, have a stay in hospital or, sorry to bring this up, die, your cat may feel your absence just as acutely as any human member of the household.

What Behaviours Do Cats Display When They’re Stressed?

The manifestation of stress can be many and varied, but these are some of the behaviours most often displayed by our favourite felines when they are feeling stressed out:

NOT an example of a stressed cat! Soph shows off her belly as she poses for the camera on her Feline Futons.

Over-Grooming: Some estimates reckon that cats can spend up to 50% of their waking hours grooming, and some cats will groom more than others, which is the case at Cat Habitat HQ. If Soph and Pussa were humans, Soph would be the sort of girl that wouldn’t walk out the door without a full face of make-up on. Pussa on the other hand would be the girl that pulls her hair back in a ponytail, gives herself a quick glance in the mirror, and goes out anyway! It’s hard to define exactly what “excessive” grooming is but if it results in your cat developing bald patches, well then you’re there.

Changes in Appetite: You often hear humans describing themselves as comfort eaters or emotional undereaters in a response to difficult situations. Cats can be similar, so take note if your once ravenous puss cat becomes disinterested in dinner, or a cat who doesn’t normally have a big appetite suddenly develops one.

Aggression: Hissing, biting, and scratching are some of the behaviours which your cat might pull out of their kit bag when confronted with certain stressors.

Not Using the Litter Box/Spraying: Cats can do this in situations when they are uncertain of their environment and they feel the need to secure their surroundings.

So, What To Do To Reduce The Stress?

If you think your Favourite Feline looks like they are carrying the world’s problems on their fur coat you can try some of these remedies:

Take a Visit to the Vet: You want to rule out any physical causes for the change in behaviour.

Remove the Stressor: Obviously! If it’s something simple like you’ve moved their scratching post from its usual spot, for the harmony of the household, move the damn thing back and just live with it.

Introduce Change Gradually: When time is on your side and you know change is on its way, like when a new baby is going to be joining the household, let puss get used to things gradually. Let them see the new furniture in the baby’s room (don’t allow them to jump into the crib because that will signal that you are ok with that, which you won’t be when the baby arrives), sniff around the wipes, talcum powder etc. When baby comes home, there will at least be a few things that puss will be familiar with.

Spend Time with Your Cat: Make sure you set aside time to play with your cat a couple of times a day (which in Perfect Pet Parent Land you’re doing anyway right?), give them a brush, talk to them and give them a scratch under their chin/on top of their head/on their belly whichever is their preferred location.

Turn a Negative into a Positive: If for example going to the vet stresses your puss cat out, when you get back home give them a treat or do something that you know they love.

Puss cat’s environment will never be totally stress-free, and that’s a normal part of life for them and us. Make sure that if you can’t get your cat’s stress under control, seek advice from your vet as further investigation and intervention may be needed.

According to the RSPCA there are about 25 million pets in Australia living in 63% of our households. That’s one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world. Here at Cat Habitat we of course have a bias towards cats, however we are equally enthused by dogs (or pretty much any animal) when it comes to the benefits of pet ownership generally. Pet ownership is especially beneficial for children’s development for a range of reasons, and we’ve come up with the top 5 reasons you should have a pet if you have a child.

Why you should have pets if you have kids:

Feeding your pet is a great responsibility in childhood, especially when you use a Cat Habitat Slate Plate!

Responsibility: An obvious one. My mother grew up on a property and when she was young her job was to look after the chooks. As you’d imagine this included making sure that their coop was shut up tight every night. You can probably also guess that there was one night this didn’t happen. The foxes capitalised on my Mum’s oversight and, well, let’s just say that things didn’t end well for the chooks. Mum’s in her eighties now, and she still remembers that. The ongoing care for pets such as feeding, exercising, cage cleaning etc is a fantastic way of teaching responsibility to kids and the responsibility given can increase as your child matures. This will happen until they become teenagers after which all bets are off and the entire care for said pet will revert to you. Just so you know;

This is Finley playing with Dotty and Dotty’s Chicken Drumstick Cat Teaser. Kids can find talking to their pets quite therapeutic.

Stress Relief: While this is applicable both to adults and kids, pets can be a real sanctuary for kids. Sometimes kids find it easier to talk to their pets rather than another person if they’re feeling anxious, upset or angry. Pets won’t offer unwanted advice or think that they’re silly or stupid….they’ll just give back unconditional love. When I was young I had a horse called JJ that I would talk to. I’m pretty sure that he was instrumental is resolving the many crises of my 8 year old self;

Consequences: Kids will work out pretty quickly the consequences of actions, or more accurately inaction, of basic things like not feeding a pet. Beyond that though it also teaches them lessons about how their behaviour impacts on others. If they pull the cat’s tail, or try to take away the dog’s dinner, there could be swift but hopefully not too severe consequences. Often these consequences will be a behaviour that is counter to that which your child would normally associate with their pet. These types of experiences are a good way to learn that if you provoke someone that they will react. This will help your child learn to read the signals being given by their pet and determine how to respond. In our adult world we refer to this as someone’s EQ, which is widely considered to be a key characteristic many good leaders possess;

Improve Reading Skills: Yeah, probably not a benefit of pet ownership that immediately springs to mind. The ABC recently aired a great series called Revolution School which was shot over 12 months at Kambrya College, a secondary school in south east Melbourne. Spoiler Alert: they implemented a recommendation given by a literacy expert for students to undertake 10 to 15 mins of “independent silent reading” before class. The end result was a significant improvement in the student’s academic results across all subjects. In early childhood, one way of improving kid’s reading skills is by reading aloud. Reading to their pet will mean they aren’t interrupted or made to re-read a passage – a sure fire way to kill enthusiasm for reading. With this kind of reading practice, it will also give them greater confidence when it comes time to speak in front of people. They will have greater fluency, better control of tone and a wider vocabulary;

Reduced Incidence of Pet Allergies: A study done by Clinical & Experimental Allergy published in 2011 found that children who lived with a cat or dog in the home during their first year of life had up to a 50% reduced risk of sensitisation to that animal later in life.

Pet ownership is definitely not for everyone and there are too many examples of humans neglecting or mistreating animals. But hopefully if you’ve deemed yourself responsible enough to have a human child, that you consider yourself equally responsible enough to have a fur child. Choose your pet wisely taking into consideration your lifestyle, living arrangements and all the other commitments that there are on your time. I guarantee though, the rewards from matching the right pet with the right human are beyond words.

We’ve written previously about what makes a good cat toy and how important toys are for indoor cats for weight and behaviour management. In those articles we discussed ensuring you have toys your cat can use by themselves (independent toys) and why you also need interactive cat toys.

Soph turns into a cat possessed when we bring out her Chicken Drumstick Cat Teaser.

To recap, interactive cat toys are those that in some form or another require YOU! In the Cat Habitat range our Cat Teasers are interactive toys as they require you to wave the wand so the ribbons replicate prey that puss wants to chase, pounce and jump after. While it’s tempting to wave around the wand like a mad person, just stop and think for a moment about what you’re trying to do. Your aim is to replicate how a cat’s prey would behave in the wild. Creatures that cats would prey on aren’t going to run constantly. They will run briefly then hide, move further and hide again. Your cat will respond by watching, stalking and then pouncing. Using our Cat Teasers you would want to make the ribbons wiggle along the ground, flick them up onto some furniture, or drag them around the corner so it looks like they are disappearing from view. Basically you’re trying to bring the toy to life for your cat and let them exercise their natural hunting instincts. Needless to say, you’ve got to let puss catch the prey as often as you let the prey escape, otherwise it won’t be fun for them.

Ideally, and I know this can be hard, you want to commit to at least one, preferably two, play sessions a day. Ten to fifteen minutes each time is plenty, but if your cat is older they might not be able to play for that long. At the point when it’s time to finish up, try to let the activity gradually slow down rather than just abruptly finish since this is what would happen in the wild. The prey would be worn down and puss would make her final strike.

Every cat will have a preference for the type of toys they like to play with, and how they like to play with them. As a general rule, Soph is not one for chasing. She does however go bonkers when she’s on the scratching post and we bring her Chicken Drumstick out! Pussa on the other hand is always on for a chase. When we were devising our cat teasers we wanted to remedy what we considered were the faults of cat teasers most commonly available at pet stores.

What makes a good interactive cat toy:

Compare the Cat Habitat cat teaser on the right which is longer with a thicker wand, to the teaser on the right which is short, thin and appears to be afflicted which the mange!

The wand needs to be a reasonable length. Most of the teasers you buy at the pet shops are only about 30cm long. Try bending over for more than a couple of minutes to accommodate the short length and see how your back feels. Ours are around 60cm long, making them much more comfortable to use, especially for older people;

The wand needs to be rigid rather than flexible. Many of the teasers readily available are quite thin, less than the width of a straw, and made of plastic which makes them very flexible. We make ours from 9.5mm wood dowel so there’s some strength there for when you’ve got a fired up cat pulling on the other end;

Make sure that the teaser is constructed for the rigors of cat play. You want to avoid cat teasers where bits can be pulled off, especially pieces of plastic or wire that will be dangerous if swallowed by puss.

Interactive cat toys are a great way of bonding with your cat and keeping them well exercised. Just remember to put them away once play has concluded so that it’s something that remains special between you and your favourite feline.

So it’s the day after our first market stall at Kirribilli Markets, and I’m still getting over it! You know when you do something for the first time with so much emotional energy invested in the effort, that afterwards you fall in a heap? That’s me today.

We had packed up the car the previous afternoon, and you seriously couldn’t have squeezed one more Fur Ball in. As it was I was sitting in the front passenger seat nursing five Cat Cots and a backpack while we waited in line for our opportunity to unload our goodies amongst every other stall holder wanting to do the same thing. My market stall neighbours, Julie and Irene, had both told me that they arrived about 5.30am (OMG!) so they could get street parking close to the market which, shock of shocks, was actually FREE on Sunday! Julie was selling an assortment of dog accessories, and Irene crocheted birds, cartoon characters and all manner of other creatures. Both had been working market stalls for a couple of years and were lovely, friendly stall neighbours.

I’m happy to say that there were no major cat-astrophes on the day. I remembered to take everything I needed, the PayPal card reader worked, nothing fell over…all the things that I had envisaged would happen in the middle of the night in the lead up to The Day.

What I really enjoyed about the market was being able to talk to lots of fellow cat owners, and even people who didn’t own cats would stop and look and chat. I of course sympathised with the latter group who didn’t know the joy of living with a cat! People loved the feel of our Feline Futons which we had Pussa (the doppelganger version) propped up on, but the product that was our most popular on the day was our Whole Box & Mice. Even if I do say so myself, the display we put together for them looked fantastic and I think that added enormously to their attraction.

Cat Habitat products in public en masse.

The market wrapped up about 3pm and the pack up and departure was undertaken by everyone with the precision of military operation! By the time the market is over it’s a very long day for the stall holders, and everyone is pretty keen to get home and sit down….me included. Pussa and Soph, who had had the luxury of being at home all day, didn’t even have the consideration to make something for the workers for dinner. The workers agreed that neither of them wanted to cook anything, and were even less interested in cleaning up. The workers went and got Thai for dinner….and a glass of red.

Despite the exhaustion, it was a great experience and has given the Cat Habitat team enough encouragement to do it again next month (Sunday 14th August – come see us). I’m afraid though that the temptation of free street parking is not enough to get me there at 5.30am.